Master of Death
by Violet-san
Summary: AU. Lily Potter managed to perform a ritual to unite the three Deathly Hallows. Unbeknownst to anyone alive, Harry Potter isn't just the Boy-Who-Lived after Voldemort's downfall, but also the Master of Death. How will that change his life? Powerful!Harry, Rated T to be safe
1. The Ritual

**Prologue: The Ritual**

It was the 3rd October 1981 and Lily Potter couldn't believe her incredible luck. Today, Albus Dumbledore, a good acquaintance of her and her husband James, had decided to visit them in their small cottage at Godrics Hollow. He was often very busy being the headmaster of the only magical school in Great Britain and - more importantly - the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, the only real resistance against the Dark Lord Voldemort these days, but he tried to come by whenever he had time. Which was once every few month, but it didn't matter, because James' three best friends visited as often as they could too and their friendly neighbour, Bathilda Bagshot, also came over every few days.

But today only Albus was there and James had convinced him to play with little Harry a bit. Harry, their most beloved son who was in grave danger as Voldemort had somehow begun to think that the one year old child posed a threat to him. Lily didn't fully comprehend his reasoning as it was based on a prophecy and she thought Divination was utter rubbish, but that did not change their situation. She had done quite a bit of research, most of it touching topics that weren't very well-known, some of them even pretty dark, but she didn't care. She wanted Harry to be as protected as possible and she would do everything to make sure he would survive.

Because of that she had finally found a ritual that might work. It was highly dangerous and even the creator thought it to be impossible to complete, but if she gathered the correct ingredients she knew it would work. The problem? The three main ingredients were thought to be a myth. There existed a children's tale about three magical objects, called the Deathly Hallows. Every person possessing all three of them was called the 'Master of Death', but no one had ever mentioned to do so and lived to tell about it. But the completion of said ritual would transfer the power of these hallows into a human, truly making him or her the Master of Death, as getting killed would be almost impossible.

And Lily currently possessed two of the three needed objects.

It had been a shock to discover that her husband's Invisibility Cloak wasn't just that, but actually _the_ Cloak of Invisibility, given to Ignotus Peverell by Death himself, if one believed the story that Beedle the Bard had written centuries ago.

The second Hallow was called the Resurrection Stone and it had posed the biggest challenge because she didn't know anything about it. But she had never stopped her research and after many weeks she had finally learned that Cadmus Peverell, the first possessor of that stone, had left the stone to a family called Gaunt.

She had needed even more time and a bit of James' money combined with a fake name to get access to the Ministry files, but it had been worth it. She had gotten the location of the Gaunt property and, since the last members of the family - Morfin and Merope, if she recalled them correctly - had died, she had hoped that maybe the stone was still there, forgotten or something like that.

And it had been there, crafted into a ring, surrounded by strong Dark Magic. She had visited many times, secretly, when Harry was being entertained by the Marauders, wondering how to get the stone without setting off the wards. After making sure that it was the real one, of course.

In the end, it turned out to be easier than anticipated, because for some reason the wards were keyed to the ring itself, not to the stone. She had broken it off after carefully studying the curses and traps nearby and raising powerful protection charms, glad that Charms had always been her strong subject.

Now the only thing left was the Elder Wand, first used by Antioch Peverell. And after many studies and even a disguised visit to a wandmaker called Gregorovitch (there may or may not have been a bit of... persuasion and obliviating necessary) she finally made the connection. Current master of the Elder Wand was no less a figure than Albus Dumbledore himself.

Though she had had no idea how to borrow his wand. He would never allow what she was planning to do so asking had been out of the question. So she was _delighted_ to see that James had taken him to play with Harry. Her husband was really devoted to their son and tried to be the perfect father. Though actually she thought he sometimes spoiled him rotten, especially when Sirius, Remus and Peter were there, but anyway.

If Albus was there too now, she could imagine that both men wouldn't come down for quite a while.

But that wasn't the main reason she was delighted. Actually, it was something even better. The four of them had drunk tea and Albus had, of course, used his wand to add sugar to his cup. He had then placed it on the table and afterwards, in the chaos that always ensued whenever James was excited to do something, had forgotten to take it with him.

To his defence, James had left his wand on the couch himself and Albus was a bit older than her husband.

Still, as Lily had been cleaning up everything she couldn't believe her luck. Originally, she had devised a much more complicated plan, including James' cloak, a lot of distractions and a huge amount of luck. This was way easier.

But she wouldn't have an infinite amount of time, Albus would surely notice that he had left his wand soon and the ritual needed to be finished by then.

So she hurried to collect every ingredient she needed. It was a variety of rare things - including a complicated potion she thankfully had already brewed and put under a stasis spell for this situation - but the Deathly Hallows easily were the most important ones.

Drawing a deep breath, she stepped into the room she had already prepared for this, hoping that this wouldn't be the last thing she would ever do.

ooo

A few hours later she recovered her senses, lying in the middle of the room, directly in the centre of a triangle which held a Deathly Hallow at each corner and was located inside an even bigger circle with many complicated runes on it. She felt queasy, unsure if it had worked, but glad that she was definitely still alive.

She went to collect the Hallows, examining them as she took them. The Cloak of Invisibility? It certainly still worked. But the Resurrection Stone? She looked at it for a moment, before turning it a few times in her hand, holding her breath. She knew that if everything went according to plan the stone would lose it's powers completely while the cloak would continue to work just like a normal Invisibility Cloak would and the Elder Wand would be reduced to a normal wand.

Nothing happened.

She let out a relieved breath she didn't even knew she was holding. It had worked. She had completed the ritual that made her the so-called 'Master of Death'. She knew that many people believed one truly was a Master of Death if one could accept that every life needed to end. But this was on a completely different level.

She finally tried out the Elder Wand, casting a quick _Lumos, _almost going blind as the tip of the wand suddenly flared up, much brighter than she had anticipated, but she had no time to loose. She extinguished the light and was almost out of the door as she noticed something in the mirror next to the door.

She stopped, staring at her forehead in wonder. On it, a thin scar was seen, shaped like the rune Sowilo, standing for the sun and success amongst other things. She sighed, brushing away her hair as she softly touched the rune. Yes, she certainly hoped that her plan would succeed. Maybe she should tell James about it now that it was done and he couldn't talk her out of it anymore.

She covered the scar with a strong, undetectable glamour charm - which came out even stronger than intended, but she just welcomed it, hoping that not even Albus would be able to see past it - before placing the cloak back to where she had taken it from earlier, pocketing the small, now useless stone to dispose of it later and making her way upstairs to the nursery, Elder Wand in hand.

She opened the door a fraction, smiling happily as she could see Harry zooming around on his toy broomstick, a birthday gift from Sirius with which he had already done quite a few wicked things, the little devil. Right now, he was chasing Albus who had quite the trouble in keeping the child at bay.

Chuckling, she finally stepped into the room.

"It seems like you're having fun, but look at the time." She pointed at the clock on the wall that was getting ignored most of the time. "It's getting late, do you want to stay for dinner, Albus?"

The old wizard looked up as Harry zoomed past his robes, only to be caught by James.

"I'm afraid I cannot, though I am sure it would be delicious," he said, smiling wistfully at Lily before turning to her husband who was struggling with Harry. "It has been very amusing, I am glad to see that little Harry has so much fun even though the situation is very serious." He crouched down next to Harry, who was now staring at him with big eyes. "I hope I will see you again soon, we will surely play again." Then, he stood up again. "I thank both of you for your time, but I will need to take my leave now. Order business, you know..."

Both parents nodded. The order was more important, they could understand that, even though Lily knew that James would love to help but didn't because he didn't want to leave Harry and her alone.

But there was one thing left to do.

"By the way, Albus, you left your wand on the table," she said, looking slightly reproachful as she took it out of her pocket, handing it to him. Then she looked at her husband. "And James, if you leave yours on the couch one more time I'll hex it to permanently stick behind your ear!"

"Come on Lils, that was maybe the second time...!"

"Yes, the second time this week! And don't 'Lils' me, Mr. Potter!"

Albus looked at them with his usual twinkle in his eyes. "I think that is my cue to leave. Have a pleasant evening you two. May I take the cloak with me to study it, James?"

"Yeah, but don't leave me alone, Albus! She's scary when she's angry!" James half-cried which made her punch his shoulder lightly.

"I'll show you scary you forgetful fool!"

Though they all knew that it wasn't all that serious, but she really thought that James should get a grip. Even if they tended to pretend everything was alright, there was a crazy Dark Lord out there aiming for their son, to leave his wand on the couch could actually be dangerous. Also, had he just lent his Invisibility Cloak to Albus?

She really needed to talk to him.

ooo

After that day everything seemed fine again, though the one time Peter visited he looked terribly down, even worse than Sirius and Remus did when they had been there, telling Lily and James about who else had fallen. She hadn't understood it at that time, until that fateful night on Halloween.

Together with James she had played with Harry as they heard the front door crashing open. No one who knew where they lived did that. At once they knew something was very, very wrong and both of them stood up, feeling alarmed.

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him!" James said at once, eyes wide, handing Harry to her. "Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"

She nodded weakly, stumbling up the stairs, the only exit to their room that didn't lead to the front door, and into Harry's room. But before she had closed the door, she already heard that hateful voice uttering the Killing Curse. She had no time to spare to keep listening, instead she hurriedly placed Harry into his cot before piling up furniture in front of the door, hoping it would hold _him_ off slightly longer.

She knelt down in front of Harry, looking straight at him, tears threatening to spill, knowing that the end of this night would probably leave him orphaned.

"Mummy loves you," she whispered, placing a kiss on his forehead. "Just know that whatever happens, I will always love you. As will James."

The door burst open, sending splinters and baby clothes flying and she whirled around, shielding Harry with her body as she looked Voldemort directly into the face.

She had no wand - it laid on the living room carpet, forgotten. But she knew what she had to do. She had mentally gone through it a few times.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl!"

There was only one possibility to transfer the power of being the Master of Death to another living being. It was to let yourself getting killed. Of course, she could have used the power to escape Death herself, but being hit by an _Avada Kedavra_ without dying could have many unforeseen circumstances and she was not willing to risk Harry. She would automatically transfer her power into him the second she was hit with the killing curse, which should make Harry immune to it once Voldemort turned to him.

It had never been done before, it was pure speculation. But it would work, it _needed_ to work! Just slightly more time...!

"Not Harry, please! Have mercy... Have mercy, I'll do anything!"

"Stand aside, now!"

"Please, take me, kill me instead!"

"Stand aside...!"

She didn't know nor care why he kept telling her to stand aside, but she knew that only that had given her enough time to prepare everything. She still refused to budge, begging him for mercy though knowing he would have none.

"_Avada Kedavra_!"

The last thing she heard was her own scream as the curse connected, painfully tearing the foreign power away and hopefully leading it into her most beloved son, before she knew no more...

ooo

Voldemort never noticed that the child, that had started crying the second the Killing Curse had hit his mother, now sported a scar looking like the Sowilo rune - or, if one didn't know much about runes, like a lightning bolt - that hadn't been there before.

Laughing cruelly he pointed his wand at the freshly orphaned boy and cast the Killing Curse a third time, sealing his own fate...

* * *

**So... A new multichaptered story! Originally I wanted to finish 'Snake Whisper' before starting anything new, but this plotbunny just didn't want to leave and I needed to write it down! But don't worry, I won't abandon my other story because of this one.  
**

**It will have powerful!Harry and probably something like manipulative!Dumbledore, so if you're not a big fan of that idea this story probably won't appeal to you (though I will try to give him weaknesses too and he will have his fair share of opponents I guess)**

**Though I have to admit, though I do have a good idea about the beginning, I'm quite unsure regarding things like Harry's friends, his house and maybe even a potential love interest much later. I'm open for any ideas here, except for Ginny, Hermione, Cho, Ron or Snape as Harry's love interests. Sorry people, but I really don't ship these. :/  
Excluding aforementioned things, feel free to suggest anything you like, I'll see what I can do! :)**

**Other than that, this chapter was only a prologue, the perspective will - of course - change to Harry's afterwards and since this is pretty much the past there isn't much to say about Harry yet, but I hope you liked it anyway.**

**Regards, Violet-san**

**(A short disclaimer: Of course, Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. Also, I've used a few dialogue lines from PoA regarding James, Lily and Voldemort at Halloween)**


	2. Reunion

**Chapter 1: Reunion**

Harry Potter, currently six years old, lay on his mattress in his cupboard, silently crying. Next to him lay a ripped card on which he had drawn three stick figures. A small one with black hair and glasses and a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his face that was supposed to be him. A taller one with the same hair and glasses but no scar, and another one with long, red hair. These were supposed to be his parents. He wasn't sure if they really looked like that, but it had felt right when drawing. His class had drawn these cards in school on Friday, in preparation for Mothering Sunday, but Dudley had found his and torn it, telling him he didn't need it because his parents were long dead anyway.

Harry already had no friends at school because Dudley and his friends kept threatening anyone who tried to talk to him and after a while no one tried anymore. But still, last year he had managed to sneak a card back into his cupboard without anyone noticing.

This year he hadn't been so lucky. He knew for himself that he had no parents, he lived with his mother's sister Petunia Dursley and her husband Vernon. Both of them didn't seem to like him much, they kept telling them that he should be glad that they went through all the trouble of raising him even though they had an own son. But that son was the problem. Stupid Dudley and his stupid friends... Harry remembered in horror the day their grades had come and the Dursleys had noticed that he was better than their precious Dudley in every subject. He had been locked into his cupboard for a week with almost no food for 'spoiling the experience for Duddykins'. An error he had never made again, learning in silence while trying to get worse grades than Dudley without failing. Not an easy task, really.

Of course, he had long ago learned how to pick his lock to sneak out in the middle of the night to nick some leftovers, but still, it wasn't very fun.

But today was the worst. He had been sent to Mrs. Figg - a weird old lady living in the neighbourhood that watched over him sometimes, mostly whenever the Dursleys were out of the house - for the day as the Dursleys went to the zoo to celebrate Mothering Sunday. She had told him all sorts of stories from her cats and showed him the same photo album she always did and in the evening he had been locked away again.

He just couldn't take it anymore... why did his parents die in that car crash... he wanted a mother too...!

Just as he was desperately wishing to not be alone anymore, he heard a rustling sound and stilled.

"...Harry?" a soft, female voice called out. He didn't recognize it, it certainly wasn't the shrill voice of Aunt Petunia... "Is that you...?"

Nervously, he turned around to lie on his back. Above him, a woman stood - or more likely crouched as the cupboard under the stairs was pretty small - the weak light from the light bulb illuminating her bright red hair and green eyes that looked eerily like his own.

"Who are you...?" he asked quietly, knowing that his relatives would hate it if they heard him talking. But more importantly he was wondering who that woman was and how she had managed to step into his cupboard without making any noise.

The woman just kept looking at his forehead, were he knew his weird scar was, one that he had gotten during that car crash when his parents had died... Her face a mixture of relieve and deep sorrow.

"It worked... It really worked...! I am so sorry that I had to leave you. Oh _Harry_..."

Harry frowned. "What worked? Who are you?" Leaving him? He couldn't remember ever seeing her before.

She sighed. "Harry... I'm Lily, your mother."

He stared at her. Was that an evil joke? Though he couldn't imagine Dudley getting adults to pull his leg. "My mother is dead," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"...I know, believe me," the woman answered, her expression almost mirroring his, as she raised a hand to cover the lightning bulb. The light shone through it, though weaker than before. "I am so sorry..."

Harrys eyes widened and he sat up, almost banging his head on the stairs above him.

"A-Are you a... ghost...?"

He knew that the Dursleys hated it if he ever said anything even remotely unnormal, anything out of the ordinary, even if it was in a cartoon, as if he would get weird ideas through it, but... he did not know what else to call that woman who said she was his dead mother and whose hand did not block light as completely as it should.

She slowly shook her head. "Not really. I am more than a ghost but less than flesh and blood... I do not know how to describe it... But I am definitely dead, even though I wish I could be with you... How old might you be now? The last time I held you in my arms you were only fifteen months old..."

Harry stared at the woman. She seemed to be serious, even now her voice was full of sorrow and she looked at him so full of love he wanted to cry. Somehow he could believe her that she wasn't quite alive anymore...

"I'm six..." he mumbled. "But if you are dead how can you be here?"

She gave him a small smile. "You called me. If you concentrate enough you will always be able to call me or anyone else who was in your heart and died... It's a very special power and as far as I know you are the only person who is able to do that in the whole world..."

He stared at her, wondering if she was taking the mickey out of him. Especially Uncle Vernon was always very vocal that things like magic didn't exist.

But didn't Harry have proof in front of him that this had been wrong?

"Everyone in my heart? Even... my father?"

She nodded, looking very serious, before glancing around.

"But you might want to do it somewhere different, this room is pretty small..."

He flinched slightly. He knew by the way she talked she meant well, she probably didn't know that this was his room, but he couldn't leave the cupboard today.

"Then... maybe later," he answered evasively. "Though won't people notice you? If you are not fully alive..."

She shook her head. "I am only visible to yourself. As will everyone else you may summon. Do not worry about that."

He nodded, deep in thought.

For a moment, no one said anything. The woman just studied his face as he thought about everything.

"So... you are my mother?" he asked after a while, just to be sure. She nodded. "Um... could you tell me how you died...?"

He felt slightly bad asking that question, especially because it seemed horribly disrespectful, but the only thing he remembered was a lot of green light and horrible pain. Now, a car crash could not been painless, but green light? He wanted to understand...

She seemed confused at first, but nodded a moment later, clearing her throat before starting to talk.

"I guess you already know most of it, but I will start at the beginning, alright?" Harry nodded. "It happened on Halloween in the year nineteen hundred and eighty-one. James and I had managed to hide you from Voldemort thus far, but we never thought that one of our friends would betray our trust. He told Voldemort where we had hidden and he came after us. Both James and I had tried to protect you, but we failed. Both of us were killed by Voldemort. But thankfully I had managed to perform a ritual to save you. He was not able to kill you because you can not be killed anymore. I don't know what exactly happened afterwards, but I have heard from people who died after us that Voldemort has been defeated that very night, believed to have died from his very own curse. But I am sure you know that better than me anyway."

Harry gaped at her. He had wondered if she might have been able to explain why there had been so much green light in that car crash - after all, Aunt Petunia had only told him to ask no questions after she had initially told him the story - but... what she had told him had absolutely nothing to do with a cars! Instead, Lily had given him many words he had never heard before.

"...Who is Voldemort?" Harry began, wondering if it was some kind of crazy mass murderer... If he had really killed his parents... But if that was true, it still didn't explain all of the green light... or why Aunt Petunia would lie to him...

By now, Lily was staring at him, looking shocked herself.

"What do you mean, 'Who is Voldemort'?" she asked, frowning. "Did no one ever tell you how James and I died? I can't imagine that you have never asked..."

"Um... I was told you died in a car crash..." Harry mumbled, worried by now that she might actually get angry with him for not knowing.

"A CAR CRASH?!" Lily half-screamed and Harry's eyes widened.

"Shh!" If she would disturb his relatives he would never hear the end of it..!

She seemingly understood because she tried to calm down.

"I don't think anyone else but you may hear me, either. But I am sorry for my outburst, I did not want to scare you. Still, who has told you that? With whom do you live?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, but even if that Lily wasn't his mother, she was already here so it probably wouldn't hurt to tell her who else was living here.

"Well... with Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia," he explained nervously, but nothing could have prepared him for Lily's reaction.

"WHAT?!" She looked beyond shocked, as if she wasn't sure if she had heard him correctly. "How could they? What about the Longbottoms? Or Padfoot? Hell, I would have preferred Severus!"

By now she seemed to be ranting mostly to herself, but Harry was still slightly freaked out. He had never heard of anyone with these names... Should that really be true? At last, she noticed him still being there after a while and regained her composure.

"Again, I'm sorry about that. I've never been very good with containing my emotions. I'm sure you are terribly confused now, I will try to explain everything I can, okay?"

Harry nodded hesitantly. At least it was still pretty early in the evening and no one would bother to look for him.

"You're a wizard," she said after taking a deep breath. He just continued staring at her.

"I'm a what?"

"A wizard. I know, given the fact that you lived with Petunia of all people - and I hope I will find out who has arranged that, once we meet again it won't be fun! - probably means she has never told you anything about me. Or James, or anything about our world."

Harry frowned, thinking about what she was implying. "You mean she knows...?"

"Of course she does. She is my sister after all. But she envied me because I was a witch and she was only a muggle - a person who can't use magic. And sadly, that destroyed our friendship very thoroughly. Anyway, I am sure there have been some inexplicable things happening near you, haven't there?"

Harry blinked, surprised. How did she know? He remembered the day Aunt Petunia had cut off all of his hair because no matter how often they went to visit the barber it always looked the same afterwards. It had somehow grown back overnight and he had gotten a week inside of his cupboard for that. Or that one time he had somehow managed to jump onto the roof of the school building even though he had only wanted to hide behind some bins. That had been two weeks for 'climbing school buildings'. Not to mention that one time Dudley had tried to push his face into a toilet bowl causing the whole school bathroom to be flooded with water. Of course, the teachers had believed Dudley when he had told them that Harry had somehow managed to do that himself. Another two weeks inside his cupboard, of which only ten days had passed yet.

His thoughts seemed pretty obvious because Lily smiled at him after a moment. "Don't worry, accidental magic is absolutely normal for young witches and wizards." Her smile began to fade. "Though I can't imagine Petunia liked hearing of these strange things. And her husband takes the same line as far as I am aware... Didn't they have a son about your age? Dunley? No... Dudley, wasn't it?"

Harry nodded mutely and finally decided that he could believe... his mother... for now. She simply knew too much to be a hoax and the Dursleys would never send someone who told him that things like _magic_ existed! They would probably lock him into his cupboard if he even said the word aloud!

And just like that, so many questions bubbled up inside of him... He couldn't help but ask.

Lily turned out to be a great listener and she could explain things in a very simple manner, making him understand the answers to his questions. And she explained a lot. About a beautiful place called Hogwarts, about the Ministry of Magic, Muggles, Squibs, the weirdness of blood-purity...

Voldemort turned out to be an evil wizard who had wanted to eradicate all Muggles and Muggleborns and had been very powerful, but after attacking them that Halloween he had vanished and almost everyone in the Wizarding World was sure that Harry had somehow vanquished the Dark Lord. At least the dead people were saying these things.

Actually, Lily could tell him a whole lot about the afterlife, though surprisingly, there wasn't much to say. She said there wasn't a real place she could describe and time flowed differently too. Also, people had no real bodies, they were just... beings, a bit like spirits, but at least the dead were able to talk with each other and meet lost relatives.

That way she had been able to tell him what supposedly had happened at Halloween. But she also knew better. After all, no one besides the three Potters and Voldemort had been there that night. Of course, it was pretty certain that Voldemort had cast the Killing Curse at Harry, but everything else was pure speculation. Lily explained to him that she had used three very powerful magical objects to make herself invincible before passing that power on to him, which was the reason that Harry had survived the curse. Why Voldemort had vanished... She didn't know, but she guessed that it had to be a side effect of a curse designed to kill meeting someone who couldn't be killed.

Not being able to get killed... that was also something that disturbed Harry quite a bit if it was true, but Lily told him that it was a very bad idea to go testing it because he could still get hurt. And _that_ he knew, considering how much Dudley liked him as a moving punching bag...

They talked until Harry couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and felt his head brimming with information. Lily once more reassured him that he could call her anytime even though she would vanish once he was asleep, before he closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep slumber, filled with dreams about magic, wizards and a certain red-haired woman who smiled kindly at him, telling him she loved him.

* * *

**First of all: Thank you for so many reviews and ideas of how to continue! I'm always open for suggestions!  
(Special thanks to Baracudaz for a small sentence that made me overthrow half of my plot, I think it will be much more interesting now!)  
I'm still thinking about the love interest, though I guess based on the reviews I've gotten until now it will probably be either Luna, Daphne, Fleur or Tonks. But who knows what the future will bring? After all, Harry won't be interested in anyone for years. We'll see. ;)  
**

**Also, I'm terribly insecure regarding my writing of young Harry, because I'm not very good at writing children... I hope it was alright anyway, especially since Harry Potter certainly isn't a normal six year old boy.**

**Next chapter will feature more of determined!Lily, once she understands the real situation Harry is currently living in. And don't worry, he won't be the scared, confused boy forever. :)**

**Regards, Violet-san**


	3. Learning

**Chapter 2: Learning**

As Aunt Petunia rose him early the next morning to get ready for school he still felt pretty exhausted but hurried to comply, not wanting to make her angry.

Though this time it was slightly different because Harry actually wanted the day to be over to continue talking to Lily whereas he normally preferred school to the boredom of his cupboard. It was a weird thought, but he really felt as if he wasn't as alone anymore, even if his only companion was a dead person...

Still, he couldn't help but keep thinking about his mother the whole day. Especially during class. Sure, he tried to focus, after all he would need these things later in life, but it wasn't as if he could _show_ anyone what he knew anyway...

As always, the worst happened after school itself was over. Dudley and his gang went back to the Dursleys almost every day to play games and they always got bored on their way back, deciding it would be a good time for Harry-hunting.

The good thing? He didn't land on the school roof again, mainly because they had started chasing him after they had already left school grounds behind.

The bad thing? He got caught. But at least the beating didn't last forever - the boys weren't very good at keeping their focus on something, especially if that something didn't fight back - and he was actually getting faster. He was sure that he would be able to outrun them soon, especially since Dudley got fatter every day.

He went straight into his cupboard once he had managed to get up again, glad that he was only bruised, so there was no blood to dirty his sheets further. But still, it bloody hurt and he was quite happy to just lie down on his mattress and do nothing. He wasn't even sure if he wanted his mother to see him like that... But that problem solved itself as Lily suddenly came through the door of his cupboard. Literally.

"Wha- How...?", he mumbled quietly.

"I may be more than a ghost, but I _can_ walk through solid matter... As for why I am here... you actually summoned me back when you were in school, but I didn't want to distract you so I kept quiet."

Harry felt himself blush in shame as he understood that this must mean that she had been watching _everything_. Thankfully, she didn't comment but said something completely different.

"I think you need to learn some magic."

He stared at her.

"But... didn't you say that children first learn magic once they get into Hogwarts?" And that would still be five years away, since the Hogwarts letter came once the student had turned eleven...

"Well, normally, yes. But I have come to understand that your living situation is _not_ normal. Petunia has an unused room, hasn't she?" Lily asked, her face unreadable.

"Well... There is a guest room for Aunt Marge and a room for Dudley's toys..."

"Exactly! I can't believe anyone thought it to be a good idea to leave you _here_ of all places!" She huffed. "Anyway. About magic. I thought that maybe you could learn a few very basic spells. After all, you don't have a wand and wandless magic is very stressful, especially on a child. Also, if you'd like I can teach you a few phrases of Gobbledegook."

That had Harry blinking in confusion.

"Gobblegook...?"

"Gobble_de_gook. The language of the Goblins. Mind you, I'm far from fluent, but I know some phrases to get you the respect of a Goblin should you encounter one," she explained.

"A Goblin?"

That led to another small explanation session about the British wizarding bank called Gringotts and the money system wizards were using around the world, as well as a few very intelligent creatures the wizarding world had to offer, like Goblins, Merpeople and Centaurs.

Harry even forgot his pain for a moment and he was really curious about everything. Especially about that magic part! Even the slightest success would prove to him that Lily was right and he actually _was _different from his relatives...! Also, it would help ceasing his boredom when he was locked into his cupboard for longer periods of time.  
He couldn't wait to get started!

His first 'lesson' began slightly later that evening, after Harry had finished his homework that he would never be able to turn in. He still liked completing it, knowing that he at least understood everything even if he had no one to show it to.

Well, almost no one, Lily actually watched him working and even commented on his work, telling him when he did wrong and why. She even offered to check his homework regularly after he confessed that he could not turn it in.

But the real exercise began afterwards.

"Alright... I guess we will start with _Lumos_, since it's a very simple spell," Lily told him as he listened with wide eyes. He would be doing magic...! "It's name comes from the Latin word for 'light', which would be 'lumen' and it will normally light up the tip of your wand. But since you don't have a wand it should create a ball of light in the air. Now, please try pronouncing it correctly, because actually saying the word, even if it's just a whisper, greatly increases the simplicity of the spell. Non-verbal magic is something for later, alright?" Harry nodded. "So repeat after me: Lumos."

"Lumos."

She nodded approvingly.

"Very well. Sadly I don't know much about wandless magic, but you need to really _want_ what you cast, otherwise it won't work. I think it helps if you concentrate on your magic, but I am not sure how hard that might be if you have never consciously cast anything. I fear we'll have to use the trial-and-error method."

Harry listened carefully. It sounded pretty complicated and not as easy as he had hoped, but he would certainly try.

And he did try. Every day in the evening after he had done his homework for the day he practised, with Lily watching over him. But nothing happened for more than a week, especially since after his punishment was over he needed to help Aunt Petunia with cooking or gardening again, which sometimes made him too exhausted to focus enough. He still did his best, trying not to get too disappointed.

And finally, about twenty days after he had began practising - it was Easter Monday and Harry had been once more locked into his cupboard, though he was very happy about that as Aunt Marge was visiting for the day and that way he was at least safe from her and her horrible dog - and many different strategies they had tried there finally was a spark of light! At first, he wasn't sure if he had imagined it as the surprise had destroyed his focus, but after he tried again he was absolutely sure that he could see some sort of faint glimmer in the darkness of his room after a while. And judging by Lily's small cry of joy, she had seen it too. He only needed to improve his technique now, he guessed...

He needed another week to manage a steadily glowing ball of light that illuminated his cupboard almost as well as his lightning bulb. Lily assured him that she and James - who Harry still had not dared to call - were very, very proud of him. Also he could begin trying to cast other spells, because the main problem of not knowing how to use wandless magic had been solved by now. The rest would be practise and focus.

Also, she wanted to begin his Gobbledegook lessons. And although he wasn't sure why she thought it important, the premise of learning another language besides English sounded horribly interesting to him. Even if it was just a very small vocabulary, like greetings, goodbyes and a few helpful phrases one might need when dealing with a Goblin.

Still, it sounded cool - harsh and rasping, not at all like normal languages - and he was really interested in learning something new. It ceased his boredom and he could ask his mother about anything he didn't understand and show her whatever he had learned. She always stayed calm and encouraging and sometimes even told him stories about her time at Hogwarts. About a Slytherin boy called Severus who had been her friend until both of them had made grave mistakes and about James, his father, who had been a Gryffindor and a cheeky devil but had gotten much friendlier after growing up. She told Harry about their mutual friends, Sirius and Remus, and about another person who had been their friend once, called Peter.

Harry listened to these tales with growing enthusiasm, wishing he would already be eleven to explore the castle grounds himself. He even began to dream of things like flying on a broomstick or changing into an animal at will. These things sounded so cool!

But of course, that also had a big downside. Life at Privet Drive didn't improve in the slightest and Harry felt increasingly nervous around his relatives, knowing that he could not let his new-found knowledge or talents slip. And even though he had always known that his life certainly wasn't the best, he now knew that everything could improve once he turned eleven, which made the waiting time just so much worse...!

It took another three surprisingly calm months until something finally happened to upset the delicate balance between Harry and the Dursleys. It was the end of July - Harry's seventh birthday to be exact, but the Dursleys mostly didn't remember it anyway - and he had made quite a progress concerning his magic. He was able to hold his _Lumos_ for an extended period of time now, also he knew a simple unlocking spell called _Alohomora_, a severing charm called _Diffindo_ and _Reparo_, a spell to fix broken things. Though he hadn't dared to use it on his sellotaped glasses that had broken long ago as Dudley liked to punch him in the face. Instead, he had first tried to cut some paper he owned for school with _Diffindo_, before fixing it back up with _Reparo_. Actually, he was very proud of being able to do these four spells, because cutting something while moving your hand over it did not only look wicked, it had also needed the longest to learn, because it wasn't just done with concentrating on a certain spot, he needed to move his hand while cutting without losing his focus. It was quite difficult, but he had felt great after managing to do it. Though Lily had warned him multiple times to be careful with it, because the spell could also cut through human skin. And _Reparo_ could not repair that.

Anyway, the problem wasn't so much his magic, because that was developing just fine. No, it was the fact that Aunt Marge had come for another visit. Normally she just visited at Dudley's birthday on occasion - like on his fifth birthday when she had whacked Harry repeatedly with her walking stick around the shins for beating Dudley at musical statues - or sometimes on Holidays like Easter or Christmas. But this time she had obviously wanted to visit 'her Dudders' during the summer, even wanting to stay a few days, and as she seemingly was busy at Dudley's birthday she came over now.

Harry had been in his cupboard, happily practising cutting and repairing paper once more, when he had been called out to help preparing dinner for Aunt Marge's visit. His mother had opted to wait inside of his cupboard, not wanting to distract him while cooking and Aunt Petunia always demanded his full attention. Of course, he could have sent Lily back to summon her later - he knew his strange power a bit better by now though he still had not dared to summon anyone else - but he felt more comfortable knowing that she was basically _there_ instead of somewhere in the afterlife and she told him every time he asked if that really was alright that she didn't mind.

So he silently helped cooking before Aunt Petunia sent him to dress up for Aunt Marge. Easy for her to say, he only had Dudley's hand-me-downs and his hair was all over the place no matter what he tried to do or how often Aunt petunia dragged him to get a haircut. Still, he did change his clothes, put on the smallest clothes he had - that still were about twice his size - and combed his hair even though it did nothing while he explained to his mother who Aunt Marge was.

"Vernon's sister? Yes, I think I remember her from Petunia's wedding... she looks quite a bit like her brother, doesn't she?" Lily asked thoughtfully and Harry nodded.

"She even has a moustache! And she breeds dogs... She always takes Ripper with her, her favourite bulldog..." he explained quietly just as the front door opened. He cringed as he could already hear Aunt Marge's heavy footsteps and Ripper's panting.

"Where is my little Dudders?" Her loud voice boomed through the house, though even from his cupboard Harry could hear the television in the living room, meaning Dudley was probably there. Aunt Marge must have thought so too, because soon her steps got quieter just as Uncle Vernon opened the door of the cupboard.

"Boy, don't dawdle and help me put Marge's suitcase into her room!" he ordered and Harry hurried to comply, just hearing a faint "Good luck!" from his mother before Uncle Vernon closed the door again and she was blocked from Harry's view.

The day turned out to be the worst birthday of his life. At first everything went by more or less alright. Aunt Marge coddled Dudley for a while, probably presenting him with money too and Ripper's attention was somewhere else, but dinner was a horrible affair.

"So, what's that boy still doing here?" Aunt Marge asked Uncle Vernon after she had finished eating. While Harry was glad that he got a normal meal Aunt Marge had continued to drink Brandy out of her small glass that was refilled by his uncle more times than he could count. And she was worse when she drank a lot. "Wasn't there a boarding school to send him to?"

Uncle Vernon grimaced. "You know how it is, boarding schools are expensive... but we're thinking of sending him to St. Brutus's once he turns eleven. It's a school for hopeless cases like him."

Harry just stared at his plate. He knew he would get his Hogwarts letter on his eleventh birthday, but what if the Dursleys did not let him go? He really needed to ask his mother about that! He did not want to go to some school for 'hopeless cases'...

"Right, of course... Honestly, sometimes I wonder why you put up with him, he'll just be a bad influence to poor Dudders. How did you end up with him again?"

"His parents died in a car crash," Aunt Petunia threw in stiffly and Aunt Marge huffed.

"Of course. They were probably drunkards, eh? I don't want to know how such a son might turn out once he's older. It's just like with dogs, if the parents are underbred the whelp won't develop into something good. Best beat some sense into it as long as it's still young, though that doesn't always work."

By now, Harry was getting angry. He didn't care about her stupid dogs, but his parents hadn't been drunkards! They had been magical and very strong, too!

But Aunt Marge hadn't finished yet. "Really, it's all in his blood!" she said while taking another big sip from her glass. "Nothing against your family Petunia, but there are bad seeds even among the best. Though his father probably wasn't much better. After all, what do they say? Like will to like and everything."

"That's not true!" Harry finally burst out, catching the attention of everyone at the table - except for Dudley, who was still eating.

Uncle Vernon had already opened his mouth, probably to tell him off, but Aunt Marge beat him to it.

"Is it not? Well, maybe it _is_ just your mother, after all, if the bitch is foul the whelp can't turn out much better, even if it had a decent father."

"My parents weren't bad people!" he nearly shouted, though he knew that this probably wouldn't help his cause. But he had had three months to learn what a wonderful woman his mother was, the nicest person he had ever encountered, he simply couldn't listen how she was insulted by someone who barely knew her!

"Go to your cupboard!" Uncle Vernon ordered, already almost purple in his face from anger.

"Please Vernon, let the boy talk," Aunt Marge interjected, looking straight at Harry. "Now, boy, how can it be that drunkards killing themselves in a car crash weren't bad people, huh? Stop lying to yourself!"

"They weren't drunkards! They were nice!" Harry responded angrily, only barely refraining from commenting that they also didn't die in a car crash. But he caught himself in time.

Aunt Marge just raised one of her bushy eyebrows. "So you want to tell me that they were too dumb to drive properly? Fine by me, just what I expec-" She stopped, startled, as the light bulb of the kitchen lamp exploded. By now, Uncle Vernon was glaring at Harry looking beyond furious. As Aunt Petunia made sure that Aunt Marge hadn't been hurt from the flying shards of glass Uncle Vernon grabbed Harry sharply by his wrist, pulling him out of the kitchen and closed the door behind them. Then, he did something quite unexpected.

He slapped Harry across the face.

As the burning pain made him tear up involuntarily, Uncle Vernon gripped his collar and pulled him closer.

"You will _not_ talk back to my sister that way ever again! And I don't care how you made that light bulb explode but I can tell you that you won't leave your cupboard for at least two weeks, starting right now!" he hissed, his face distorted with rage, before he opened the door of the cupboard, throwing Harry inside, closing and locking it immediately afterwards.

Harry needed a few moments to collect himself, especially since his head had connected painfully with the wall of the cupboard, but once his eyes had grown accustomed to the sudden darkness he could see that his mother was still there. And she was looking positively livid.

"We're leaving today."

* * *

**A new chapter for you!  
I had a bit of trouble writing it, mostly because Aunt Marge is quite difficult to write with all of her hatred (and I didn't want to use the same phrases she used when Harry was thirteen in the books). Still, I hope it was alright.**

**Poor Harry, but in the next chapter, there will be a major change waiting for him... obviously? ;)**

**A big thank you to all of my reviewers, I'm very interested in reading all of your feedback and suggestions... some of the latter even get me thinking if I could fit them into the story... Though the base of the story is roughly worked out now, concerning a lot of the time before Harry gets to Hogwarts. But there might be a bit more room for suggestions, depending on what they might entail. :)**

**Regards, Violet-san**


	4. A Meeting with a Difference

**Chapter 3: A Meeting with a Difference**

"What...?" Harry whispered, wondering if the pain in his cheek had somehow made his ears play tricks on him.

"We're leaving," Lily repeated. "I can't stand it anymore! I thought Petunia and Vernon would at least _ignore_ you, but... enough is enough! We'll leave these morons, even if I can't properly raise you myself! We'll find out where Sirius or Remus are or the Longbottoms... _Anyone_!"

Harry stared wide-eyed at her. Was she serious? Leaving?

"But I don't have any money..."

She snorted. "Nonsense! We just need to get you to London. Do you remember when I told you about Gringotts?" He nodded slowly. "Well, James wasn't exactly poor and we had set up a trust vault for you. Inside should be enough money to be able to live off it for a while. Also, we've left you a house you could use."

Harry gaped at her, unbelieving. He... had money? And an own house? And the Dursleys didn't know about it? If that was true- He shook his head.

"How should I get to London...? I have no money to take the train..." he mumbled but she already had an answer for that up her sleeve.

"When we were young, Petunia always kept some of her pocket money inside of an ugly vase in our living room. She was quite paranoid, fearing that her money might get stolen easily if she simply put it near her bed as every burglar would look there first. I think she never quite lost that habit. And if all else fails we can still hitchhike. It's a bit riskier but I think I can recognize a trustworthy driver," Lily explained patiently and Harry couldn't help but wonder if she had thought about it before. "But I am very glad that you're thinking for yourself."

If he was honest with himself, he had already thought about running away multiple times, but he had known that it wouldn't work because he had nowhere to go. But his mother said he _did_ have a place to go... And she had been right about him being able to do magic too, he had learned to trust her these past months.

He would definitely try it!

But first he needed to wait inside of his cupboard until everyone had gone to sleep, as he could never sneak off unnoticed as long as his relatives were still awake.

To pass his time, he practised his cutting spell a bit more, to be able to properly defend himself if necessary. Lily told him that he would probably not need it but she insisted that it was better to be safe than sorry. Also, it helped him forget about the pain in his cheek as it had began to swell slightly and made him wince every time he moved his facial muscles.

Finally, everything went quiet, but Harry continued to wait for a bit longer, to make sure everyone was definitely asleep, before he quietly unlocked his cupboard door with a whispered "_Alohomora_", closing and locking it again behind him, his school bag on his shoulders.

He had emptied it before and put everything he wanted to take with him inside. Mostly his drawings and a few toy soldiers he had once been able to steal from Dudley's second bedroom because his cousin had forgotten about them. He took a bit of clean paper and a few pens too, for emergencies.

He first crept into the kitchen, opening the fridge. He knew that what he was doing was forbidden, but he did not know when he would get another meal so he took a small bottle of water and two apples, as well as a bit of chocolate. Especially the latter probably wouldn't be missed anyway, Dudley went to the fridge all the time to get more of it. Then he took two slices of bread and hurried to put all of it into his bag, before sneaking into the living room.

He felt really bad about stealing money, but Lily had explained to him that it technically wasn't stealing, because the Dursleys never bought him anything even though they probably got money for 'taking care' of him. She also told him that if he really wanted to he could pay them back later, once he had reached Gringotts.

With that thought in mind he finally grabbed into the big, ugly vase that had stood in the living room for as long as he could remember. And really, he felt some paper at his finger tips. The only problem was that he was pretty short even for his age and his arms didn't completely reach the money at the bottom. He needed to almost climb into the vase but afterwards he at least held the money in his hand. And after he had counted it and Lily reassured him it was enough he placed it into the pocket of his trousers and turned to make his way to the front door.

_Crash_.

Harry's eyes widened in shock. While turning he had managed to bump against the vase with his bag and it had fallen over, breaking as it hit the floor.

"Oh no...!" he whispered, panicking slightly. What if the Dursleys had awoken? If they found him like that he would never hear the end of it! What to do now...?

"Keep calm, Harry... just leave through the back door, alright?" Lily said in a calming manner and he nodded, hurrying to the back door which at least wasn't directly next to the stairs leading to the bedrooms the way the front door was. "Take a deep breath... you need to focus to open the door."

Harry drew a shaky breath and tried to concentrate, which wasn't very easy as he could already hear slow, thumping footsteps above. Someone had awoken and he needed to be out of the house before they noticed what had happened.

"_Alohomora_," he whispered sharply, staring at the lock. Nothing happened. He cursed inwardly and tried increasing his focus. "_Alohomora_!" Still nothing. Taking another deep breath he forced himself to calm down and ignore the footsteps, putting all of his focus onto the lock of the back door. "_Alohomora_!"

Finally, the door gave off a soft click and he quickly opened it before hurrying outside. As he breathed the fresh air he gave off a relieved sigh, but he still ran along Privet Drive, across Magnolia Crescent and down Magnolia Road until he felt he was a safe distance away. Breathing heavily he slowed down to a walk, hoping he would find the train station without many problems. He hadn't been there often so he felt slightly insecure. At least Lily said that she had a faint memory of the town herself because she had visited her sister once and had needed to walk because neither her nor James knew where the house was to simply apparate.

Apparition... Also something Harry yearned to learn, but his mother had told him that he would need to wait until he was seventeen for that. Or at least until he had a proper instructor, because there were many accidents that could happen and only a grown-up wizard could mend certain problems, like splinching.

So for now he would need to walk. At least it was summer and the night still was pleasantly warm. He just needed to find the station.

Thankfully, they had a vague idea about where to go after Harry had walked the way to his school. He had remembered how Aunt Petunia had once fetched him from there to visit the local hospital - they had needed to go to the eye doctor to get a prescription for his glasses - and Lily was quite sure that the station wasn't very far away from the hospital, so he walked that way first.

It was really creepy to walk through the town at night though and Harry felt very glad that many street lamps illuminated the streets and that his mother walked next to him, even though he would have given anything to be able to touch her right now.

At least she managed to keep his fear at bay with cheerful chatter about her childhood, how she had lived with Petunia and her parents in a small house and how she had first met Severus. It was very interesting and he had almost forgotten the creepiness once they reached the hospital.

Harry turned to her, ready to ask if she did remember the way to the station now as he heard her gasping in surprise, stopping dead, staring at something in front of them. Confused, he stopped walking too and turned his head to look the same way but he could just see a hooded figure leaving the hospital, a few yards away.

They wore a very dark cloak or something and had a hood up that cast a shadow over their face. Harry frowned. They seemed a bit spooky, but everyone did at night, so that wasn't much to say.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked his mother, looking back up to her. "Have you seen them before?"

But Lily didn't answer, she kept staring at the strange person. It began to scare him. What was going on?

He looked back to the cloaked person, just in time to see them turn into his direction, raising their head to look at him. The hood fell slightly back and the street lamps revealed his face.

It was a skull.

Harry couldn't help but scream, not caring about the pain in his cheek as he opened his mouth. But he was too scared to run, he just kept looking at the cloaked... being that kept staring at him - if one could call a skull turned into his direction staring. The worst thing wasn't the skull itself though, but he could see some kind of violet light glowing inside each of the eye sockets, making the skull seem much more alive, but at the same time a lot scarier!

He didn't know what to do, maybe someone had heard him and could come to his aid? Though he didn't even know if he was in danger, but he had heard his classmates talk about some weird films they had seen, about evil skeletons and everything!

The being in front of him didn't attack him though, it just stared. And stared some more.

Harry had stopped screaming after a few seconds, noticing that nothing had happened yet, but he still fought against the panic that made him unable to move.

Then, he suddenly saw how skin began to cover the skull. It looked really disgusting and he wasn't sure if he'd get nightmares from it later on, but after a moment, the skull was completely covered and suddenly, the being didn't look so scary anymore.

It looked like a man, younger than Uncle Vernon though definitely an adult, who had violet eyes, the same colour as the light inside those empty eye sockets had been. They glowed slightly in the dark. Also, Harry could see long, black hair falling out of the hood as the other one shook his head slightly.

"I am sorry for scaring you, fledgling," it spoke in a deep, velvety voice, though Harry could not say how sorry it really was, because the tone lacked any kind of emotion. "I had not imagined meeting you here, of all places."

It made no move to come closer, so Harry decided not to run for now as he had gotten slightly curious. If it could speak, maybe it wasn't out to kill him or anything like that...? But he had no idea what was going on.

"W-Who are you...?" he asked in a shaky tone, not knowing what to make of that whole situation.

The being bowed slightly, which actually crept Harry out even more.

"I have many names, but to most, I am simply known as Death," the being explained and Harry couldn't help himself. His jaw dropped and he gaped. Could that actually be true?

He turned to his left, where Lily still stood, unmoving.

"Mum...?" he whispered nervously, and finally, she seemed to break out of her trance and looked at him.

"I am sorry. It's the truth, he really is Death. I have met him once before, he talked to me for a moment just after I had died. I just thought I would never see him again..." she quietly explained to him, though Death somehow seemed to have heard her.

"That is true, I speak to every soul who has died. After all, some are stupid enough to want to stay on earth as a ghost. I need to note these exceptions," he spoke, and this time, Harry could hear something resembling annoyance out of his words. But mostly it was still toneless.

"Y-You can see my mother...?" he asked after collecting his courage for a moment.

"Of _course_ I can see her. She is dead and I am Death, how could I not?" Death answered and Harry flinched slightly, looking at the ground. That person - and Harry decided he would think of Death as a 'he' for now, as it looked male to him - was honestly scary...

"I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. You couldn't have known. I dare say that you have never seen me before, though the fact that you can see me at all is exceptional enough," Death continued, sounding indifferent again. Harry wondered if seeing Death was connected to seeing his mother. Maybe Death was a little bit like her and could only be seen by people who could somehow summon dead people? And by people who were already dead...? Harry didn't know. "Why are you walking down this street in the middle of the night though, and almost alone, at that? You look a bit young to be exploring."

Harry looked up to his mother. Should he tell the truth? It wasn't a very _nice_ truth after all and Lily had told him beforehand that he would need to lie at people like guards to be allowed to stay on the train. But she nodded with an encouraging smile, even though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I ran away..." he uttered nervously, looking back to Death even though he was unsure if it was wise to tell a stranger about it. But maybe Death had a way to know if you lied to him? If he would get caught at lying it could be very bad!

"Is that so...?" Death answered, sounding neither pitiful nor disappointed or anything Harry might have expected, just... neutral.

For a while, no one said anything as Death kept staring into his eyes, making Harry feel slightly awkward but he wasn't sure if it was impolite to look away... and he certainly didn't want to anger his opponent.

Then suddenly, Death spoke up again.

"I want to make an offer to you. I could give you shelter, food and magical education you would get nowhere else. But in return, you would need to agree with becoming my apprentice."

Harry's jaw dropped. Becoming an apprentice of _Death_? Wasn't he too young for that? And, more importantly...

"Why me?" He was just Harry, after all... Sure, there was this weird thing with being able to summon the dead and that he had supposedly survived the Killing Curse, but... what were these things to someone like Death?

"You are currently the only human alive who has the abilities necessary to be able to become my apprentice," Death answered at once. "While you may think there are more important people than you, I do not care about human ideals like fame, money or beauty. Though I believe you do possess all three of those." Harry couldn't help but feel that this was a huge compliment coming from someone like that, causing him to blush heavily. "But I require other talents. And your power of summoning spirits without the help of a certain item as well as the fact that you are able to see me at all tell me that you possess just these."

Death pulled up the corners of his mouth in resemblance of a smile, though Harry thought he seemed to be serious. Even if that didn't help him in deciding anything at all, because he knew he wouldn't be able to weigh all of the pros and cons the acceptance or decline of this offer would bring. He looked back at his mother for guidance again, but currently, she was frowning at Death.

"...You read his mind, didn't you?" she asked after a moment and Harry's eyes widened as he looked back to Death.

Who nodded.

"Yes. It was necessary to understand if he was what I thought him to be. And he actually is. Congratulations."

"...Thank you," Lily replied stiffly, confusing Harry even further. What was going on?

Death must have somehow noticed his expression - Lily was still looking in another direction - as he was now addressing Harry again.

"Do you remember how your mother told you about the ritual she performed to save you?" Harry slowly nodded. He was still crept out by the whole mind reading thing, but it was probably better to answer. And it was hard to forget if someone told you that you could not be killed, even though the danger of being killed wasn't exactly high anyway. "Good. Now, the three powerful objects she never named were called the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility and together, they make up the Deathly Hallows. Humans always thought that anyone who owned these three items was invincible - which is ridiculous, but humans are foolish creatures - but there seemed to have been one human who devised a very interesting ritual. It could actually _transfer_ the power of the three Deathly Hallows into a human, making him immune to dying involuntarily in the process. It was a very good theory, and obviously, it has worked. The three items aren't working the way I created them anymore. The stone has lost his power, the cloak isn't indestructible any longer and the wand, while still extraordinary powerful due to his materials, will not simply make the wielder win every duel he participates in."

Harry tried to follow the man, but it was a lot of information and he didn't understand everything... and Death had obviously noticed, too, because he rolled his eyes before changing tactics. "To put it short: You are connected to me because of the ritual your mother performed. I needed to convince myself that this was true, so I read your mind. Yes, I really am able to do that and I can teach you how to do it yourself as well as how to shield you from it _if_ you agree to be my apprentice." The last sentence was added after Harry had already opened his mouth to ask if Death could really read minds. Because even though it was pretty scary to think someone else could read your mind it was probably a very cool skill, too! But he still wasn't so sure about what that apprentice stuff meant for him...

"Being my apprentice would include learning a few things no one besides myself should be able to do as to help me in my work. And yes, my work mainly consists of visiting the dead, making their spirit part from their body. I do have helpers that take over all the dead that have lesser problems with parting from this world, which are mostly children and pensioners, but I am left with the ones that desperately wish they could have stayed alive. To properly part their clinging spirit and either send it to the afterlife or make it a ghost."

He gave Lily a pointed look and Harry absent-mindedly wondered if she had been a complicated case. Death seemed annoyed with all the dead that wanted to stay alive... But Harry still didn't know what to say...

"How about that:" Death continued after a moment of silence. "You may stay at my place for this night and use all of tomorrow to think about my offer. Maybe talk to your mother about it. I will visit you in the evening and you may tell me your decision. If you decide to decline my offer I will bring you to Diagon Alley unscathed, _but_ I will change your memories. That means you won't be able to remember anything that happened since you first saw me, forgetting my very existence. If you accept, you will be able to stay with me and we will see if we can devise some kind of lesson plan. How does that sound?"

Harry once more looked questioningly at his mother for support. He himself thought it was a good idea, but he was still wary of Death. Lily seemed to know him slightly better. But she nodded after a moment of consideration.

"If you want to think about it... It should be alright." She sounded as if she wanted to say more but didn't, so Harry turned back to Death, nodding slowly.

"Then I will go with you..."

Death nodded once himself, before slowly closing the distance between them he had preserved before. At least he made a point of taking small steps, walking in a manner that seemed unthreatening which helped Harry to the extent that he did not turn around and bolt.

Once Death stood a few steps away, he stretched out his arm.

"Just take my hand and I will transport us to my home. And do not worry about your mother, she will be able to follow you. I do not need an apprentice who just agreed to do this out of fear, after all."

Nodding again, Harry hesitated a few more seconds, before taking Death's hand. It was very smooth, unblemished skin and didn't feel the way the skeletal face he had seen before had suggested.

For a second, nothing happened. Then, shadows shot out of the ground and seemed to envelop them, before Harry's vision turned black...

* * *

**Surprise!  
Hope you liked the idea (as I've said before it actually originates from a review, though it will differ from the actual suggestion).  
**

**I know that many people thought Severus might become Harry's guardian, but... I don't think that would be a good idea, he still looks a lot like James and I don't think Severus would know how to handle a small child. Even if it's Lily's child. (Of course, there are stories that manage to write that beautifully, but this won't be one of them, sorry)**

**Anyway, thank you all for your reviews! I'm glad that you like the premise as of yet! :)**

**Regards, Violet-san**


	5. Death's Lair

**Chapter 4: Death's Lair**

When Harry awoke he heard quiet voices talking nearby.

"-will be able to see for yourself. I have never had any reason to lie and I will not change _now,_" a distinctly male sounding voice said. Though it seemed to echo somehow.

"...Alright. But I certainly won't encourage him."

Was that... his mother? But how was that possible, she always vanished once he was unconscious, didn't she?

"Of course not. Just explain what is necessary and let him decide for himself."

A door was closed just as Harry sat up, noticing that he was lying in a quite comfortable bed and as the blanket fell down he saw that he was wearing black pyjamas. _Fitting_ black pyjamas that felt very soft, now that he thought about it. He was very sure he didn't own any fitting clothes though, so what was going on?

Looking around, he could see that the bed he sat on was located at one side of a circular room. The walls were made out of some dark wood, as was the floor, and he could see four shelves, two full of books, two empty. On the opposite side of the room was a fireplace and a couch standing in front of it, but everything was quite blurry...

Harry realized his glasses must have been removed and as he looked around for them he noticed a figure standing by the door, which was located at the wall on his left.

"Harry, you are awake!" the voice of his mother said.

He nodded, before finding his glasses on the bedside table and putting them on, happily noticing that the world was sharp again. And really, the figure standing at the door had been his mother who was walking to him now.

"How can you be here already?" he asked the first thing on his mind once she stood next to him.

She smiled slightly. "Death summoned me. He said you would probably feel better if you weren't alone when awaking at a foreign place and I must agree with him there."

Well... Harry guessed that this made sense.

"What happened...?"

"I'm not sure... after you took Death's hand shadows shot out of the ground, enveloping both of you... And then you must have passed out, because I was back with James. I did not tell him about your encounter with Death by the way, I think I will wait for your final decision in that matter. Oh, and when Death summoned me you were already here. I think this is the house that belongs to him but I have no idea where it is located. I just know that it doesn't seem very normal, the sky outside looks like it would at twilight, but I haven't seen the sun yet" she explained.

Harry stayed quiet, thinking about everything that had happened. It was almost too much, first he had been defending his parents against Aunt Marge's accusations, then he had run away, met Death and agreed to think about becoming his apprentice... In the course of only a few hours!

Looking around again he noticed his bag standing next to the bed and he opened it, pulling out a slice of bread. He didn't know the time but he felt hungry so he probably had slept for at least a few hours.

While he was chewing each bite carefully he thought about everything again, wondering how his mother could help him with this decision. She didn't seem to like Death much and Harry could somehow understand it as he was a little scared himself, but he was still alive and well and he had even been sleeping in a real bed! It was... confusing.

He had used the rest of his bread to think about his weird situation a bit more. He had no real solution, but at least he had thought of a few questions.

"...Mum?" he began after a moment, causing Lily, who had been staring out of the window, to turn her head to look at him.

"Yes?"

"What do you think of Death...? I mean, the person, not the thing that happens when someone dies."

She blinked as if is question surprised her.

"Well... He is... difficult. I don't dislike him, but... you should be careful. He can be quite cunning and I do believe that he only does things for other people if there is something he would get out of it... But goblins do that too and that doesn't make one a bad person. And really, can death - with a lower-case 'd' - be good or bad?"

Harry frowned. "But your death was very bad!"

"The murder was very bad, yes, but it is the intention of the murderer, not the death of the victim, that is bad, don't you think so?" Lily explained and Harry thought about it. That was really complicated! "Anyway, if your question was probably meant to make me explain why I behaved so... different around Death... I was mostly wondering what he wanted to gain out of that deal. After all, I do only want you safe, especially after that fiasco with Vernon yesterday."

Harry cringed as he remembered it and touched his cheek. But surprisingly, it didn't hurt anymore. Normally, the bruises Dudley and his friends gave Harry lasted for a few days and the slap had hurt a lot, but... it felt fine...

"I think he healed your cheek," Lily offered as an explanation and Harry looked at her, eyes wide. "Yes, there is something like healing magic. While _Reparo_ cannot be used for it, there are other spells, but these are much more difficult to learn, so I didn't tell you about them before."

"Wow..." That sure was nice from Death... even if he only did it because he wanted something. Which reminded Harry of something... "Um... what about my clothes...?"

Lily looked at the pyjamas he was wearing.

"I don't know, you were already laying in bed when Death summoned me. But I guess he either shrank and transfigured your old clothes or conjured new ones... They suit you, though, even if they make you look paler than usual. But black is the usual colour for wizards, so I wouldn't worry too much." She smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back. "So... how about practising for a bit? It might help you organize your thoughts and you can continue thinking about the offer afterwards?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically. A bit of the routine they had established over the last months certainly sounded good!

When Death opened the door to Harry's room later the latter sat on his bed, staring hard at a ripped piece of paper which slowly repaired itself until it looked as if it had never been torn.

Harry jumped slightly as he heard the clapping sound indicating that Death had returned - his mother never clapped after all, she preferred cheering - before looking at him, smiling shyly.

"Thank you."

"My pleasure. Now, have you decided what to do?"

Harry coked his head.

"Well... yes, but I wanted to ask you two questions beforehand..." Harry said cautiously, wondering if it was alright.

Death didn't seem bothered. "Go on."

"Um... the first question would be: What kind of things could you teach me? Magically, I mean? And the second... What would happen if you decide that I'm not a good assistant after all? Or if I think it is too much for me?"

Lily had helped him going through all the pros and cons of Death's offer and they had decided that the answers to these questions would determine if it was safe to accept the offer or not.

"Very good questions," Death acknowledged, before thinking about it. "I would teach you how to control your powers better, since you only seem to know part of it. I would teach you the basics of Herbology and Potions, of History and Magical Creatures. Though most things I will teach you will not be on the Hogwarts curriculum, because really, if I taught you everything about it you would never learn anything new at school which would make your years there very boring. Instead, I would stick to the convenient knowledge that may or may not be taught in Hogwarts but is actually helpful and not silly magic like Cheering Charms or Tripping Jinxes. Though I do think that it is important to keep up with the times, so there would be some non-magical lessons too. The wizarding world has stagnated for too long, never noticing that non-magical people have achieved big feats while they try to convince themselves that non-magicals are barbaric. And finally, I would teach you how to part spirits from bodies. Because that would be the main thing you would help me with. But I do not think that you would be ready for that now, so do not worry about me sending you out for things like these very soon."

Harry couldn't help but stare almost unbelieving at Death. So many things to learn that sounded so interesting...! He was basically interested in anything, really, especially if it was connected with magic, but to hear it listed... it was incredible.

But of course, Death wasn't finished yet as there had been another question. One, that would influence Harry's decision the most. "Regarding your other question: Considering what I have seen of you yet, I do not think I would be disappointed. But should that happen or should you want to leave, I would basically do the same I told you I would if you declined. I would delete all of your memories of your time with me - including any lesson you had - and drop you off in Diagon Alley. But I think I know how to properly prepare your mind to take in your apprenticeship."

That... sounded surprisingly fair. Harry could understand that the knowledge he might gain here was something Death didn't want to get out and if Harry wanted to get out of a deal he had previously agreed to it would only be fair to pay a price for that. And if it was true that Death never lied - his mother had explained it to him, since it simply wasn't necessary to lie in that position - then...

"Okay... Then I guess it's alright," Harry said after a moment.

"Are you sure?" Death asked and he nodded.

"Yes."

"Alright. Then I may officially welcome you to my lair." Death spread his arms for a moment. "I will devise a plan for your lessons and other activities this night. Also, I will craft a wand for your as your wandless magic might be impressive but a wand will make casting much easier."

Harry didn't know what to say to that, it sounded pretty neat. He had heard from his mother what kinds of things one could do with a wand... he would love to try it himself! Thankfully, he didn't need to say anything, as Death continued to talk.

"Since you will be living here for now, would you like a small tour? My lair might not be the biggest, but it's unique all the same."

Harry nodded, now quite curious how the rest of the house would look like, and Death motioned for him to follow.

Death's lair turned out to be the coolest place Harry had ever visited. Sure, he hadn't visited all too many places as of yet, but still...!

Ironically, it was basically shaped like a cross, Harry's room being on the left end of it. Next to it was a big bathroom, bigger than the one the Dursleys had, with a huge bathtub. Everything was mostly black or other dark colours, but Harry guessed that it was understandable, death was most often associated with that colour after all. At least as far as he knew.

The long hallway was also made out of dark wood and there were no windows at the wall, only candlesticks that burned but did not smoke.

On the right end of the 'cross' was Death's personal study. Death didn't show it to him, saying that it was his private room - him being what he was meant he didn't need to sleep (or eat), so a study was perfectly fine for private chambers - and that Harry must not ever open that door as long as it wasn't a life and death emergency. And even then it would be better to search for him everywhere else before. Death didn't explain why, but he said he would do that later. For now, Harry just needed to know that no one should disturb the room _ever_, even if it appeared as if Death wasn't home.

Harry was _really_ curious what might be in that room but Death looked very serious when warning him, so he promised himself never to open that door without permission. And Death had said he would tell him why he wasn't allowed to go in later, so maybe that would explain it.

They continued their walk. The lower end of the 'cross' led to a dining room, behind which a kitchen was located. Harry was surprised, wondering why Death needed these rooms if he himself never ate anything, but that explained itself after they entered the room and found two small creatures with huge, round eyes and big, bat-like ears standing in the kitchen, preparing something looking like raw flesh.

After some bowing from them Death explained that these creatures were called house-elves and were a great addition to every household because of their incredible powers and the fact that they loved cleaning and cooking and other housework as he himself had no time for that. The elves almost cried in joy as they heard that and Harry easily believed it. Death told him these two were called Hugin and Munin and they were special house-elves, as even though the average lifespan of house-elves was about two hundred years they were both way older. Serving Death obviously had it's advantages. Though after they had left Death also explained that one had to be very careful with house-elves. They were very loyal and powerful, but bound to their families. If the family treated them badly - a surprisingly common sight these days - it wasn't unusual that this family had quite a bit of bad luck in their lives. Few children, if at all, a bad reputation... things like that. House-elves could be downright vicious, but it was often overlooked as they were bound to follow the orders of their masters. Too many wizarding families didn't believe beings like that had a lot of power. Oh how wrong they were.

After that small digression they continued their tour. They passed the middle of the cross again, Death mentioning that each of the corners held a guest room, complete with an own bathroom, though these rooms went by mostly unused, after all, how often was it that Death had visitors? Though he told Harry he could name a few humans who were visiting him sometimes. Sadly, he didn't tell Harry their names and continued walking towards the last end of the 'cross' he had not seen yet. It contained the entrance hall, another circular room, just like every room in the house. Harry wondered if Death didn't like corners? But he didn't dare asking about it, so he just continued to look around.

"That's the last room. As I've said, the house isn't very big, but it's more than enough I'd say. Do you like it?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically and even Lily looked placated though she had mostly held herself back. "It's great!"

"Glad to hear that," Death said. "Though there is one more thing I should show you as it does belong to my... property."

Harry's curiosity was piqued again and he followed Death outside as he opened the door.

'Outside' was a weird description though, as Harry wasn't really sure if it even _was_ outside. Now he understood what his mother had talked about. Sure, he had caught glimpses of it out of the windows that were located in all of the circular rooms, but... to actually be there was different again.

It was pleasantly warm, not too hot and not too cold, but he couldn't see the sun. The sky was tinted in reddish colours, mostly some light orange that made the time of the day really look like twilight, but he also couldn't see any clouds or anything. Still, grass was growing under his feet and they seemed to stand on a meadow that went on as far as he could see.

Harry frowned. "Where are we?" It certainly wasn't Little Whinging anymore, that much was obvious.

"Well... I think, the most fitting description would be... my realm. It is not anywhere on earth, more like another dimension. But from here, you can easily appear anywhere on earth, it is certainly the fastest way to travel, faster than actually travelling with human means. You remember the shadows I called yesterday?" Harry nodded. That certainly wasn't something he would forget soon. "That is the only possible form of travel to use to get here. But it is also only able to bring you here and take you back. You cannot travel from one point on earth to another using the shadows."

Still, Harry thought it was pretty wicked... But he wasn't sure if he would be taught that all too soon, if at all...

He had just opened his mouth to ask when he noticed a dark spot at the sky that seemed to get bigger quite fast. He stared.

"Ah, it's time for them to be back, I almost forgot," Death said once he had followed Harry's gaze. "All the better, I can show you the main inhabitants of these fields now."

By now, the black spot had become so big that Harry could actually recognize it being a flock of horses. _Winged_ horses. Though their wings looked leathery and they overall seemed more skeletal with dark skin, not the way he had imagined flying horses. He always though of them being like normal horses but with feathery wings...

He continued staring at them as they approached faster than he had thought possible, easily landing on the soft grass before trotting over to Death, seeming just as curious about Harry as Harry was about them. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened now.

The horse in the front looked at Death and whinnied - or at least Harry thought it was, it sounded more like the shriek of a weird bird - and at the same time Harry simply _knew_ that it had just asked: _Who is that boy next to you, master?_

"This is Harry, he will be living here starting today," Death answered, somehow seeming to have heard the voice too.

The horse looked at him, cocking its head. _Do you have any flesh with you, little one?_

"N-No, I'm sorry..." Harry stammered, overwhelmed.

_Do not worry, we don't bite humans._ The horse... said, just as Death spoke up again.

"As you have obviously just noticed, you are able to understand a few magical creatures, mostly those that are closely connected to me. You seem shocked, I should have probably warned you before, I am sorry."

Harry just slowly shook his head. He didn't think he would have really believed anyone who told him he would be able to understand winged horses. Still, Death wasn't finished yet. "These horses are called Thestrals and can only be seen by people who have seen death. That is, witnessing a person dying, not seeing me in person. It is probably slightly overwhelming, but as they said, they are mostly peaceful creatures as long as you don't deliberately anger them. They still are powerful and, in my opinion, also quite majestic horses."

Well... now that Harry's shock slowly faded he could at least see a certain beauty in them. It probably helped that they seemed to have taken a liking to him, discussing how they loved the colour of his hair and his eyes with the colour of a nice meadow. It was still a bit disturbing, but at least they were saying nice things.

"Do you want to go back inside or meet the rest of my helping force? I can't promise no more shocks, though," Death said, looking at him.

Harry thought about it, but in the end, decided to get it over with now. At least he would be able to process it afterwards.

So after he told Death they said good bye to the group of Thestrals and Death led him around the house. On their way Harry could see even more Thestrals, some were arriving, some departing and others simply grazed but he was still wondering how many of them were living here. Still, after a while he noticed that there weren't just Thestrals there. He could also spot a few big, black dogs. They looked wild but were playing with each other, happily jumping around in the grass.

That was when Death clapped his hands and suddenly, a few of the dogs stopped playing and ran to him.

"These aren't normal dogs either if you were wondering, but Grims," Death explained, causing Lily to gasp in horror. But again, he wasn't finished yet. "I know popular belief has it that a person who has seen a Grim will soon die, but that's a lie. A Grim is more intelligent than any normal dog and thus they help me with my task of splitting soul from body. So yes, Grims are actually seen more often than not near people who either have died or will die soon, but it's not as if they are the reason people die. Except if a person gets a stroke or anything because they have seen the 'omen of death', that is."

That made Lily calm down slightly, but she still looked warily at the dogs - or, well, Grims...

As the first Grim barked, asking Death why Harry smelled curiously like him Harry at least wasn't just as shocked as before, having figured that this was the reason why Death had asked if he wanted to continue. But hey, it _was_ kind of cool to be able to understand some animals. Creepy, yes, but cool.

So he promised himself he'd try talking with a few more of the creatures once he was a bit more comfortable with this strange ability. And who knew, maybe there was some interesting knowledge he could gain through it?

But for know, it was dinner time - Death had told him the house-elves had been overjoyed when he had told them before they would be able to cook dinner for him - and Harry would probably go to bed afterwards. It had been an eventful day and he was still a child after all, even though there were a whole lot of things currently happening around him.

* * *

**So... of course Harry accepted. It _is_ a unique opportunity after all.  
(Oh, and should someone wonder: I know that Thestrals are carnivorous, but think of the grass more as something inbetween, like a snack. They _are_ horses, after all. And about the Grims [for my story]: The wizarding world seems to think that there is only one Grim, because they have never seen two of them together as all Grims live with Death and help him alone. I hope my explanation is sufficient, otherwise feel free to ask)  
**

**I hope you liked the chapter (and I'm sorry if people would have preferred Lily to teach harry, but don't worry, she won't stop appearing just like that).  
Though I apologize that it has needed much more time than the ones before, but I'm currently doing an internship and my time to write was heavily limited. As in, my only time to write is at the weekend and I'm quite busy there too. But I'll see what I can do.**

**The next chapter will involve a few interesting plans Death has with Harry... Any guesses?**

**And last but definitely not least: thank you all again for your reviews! 100 already! I'm surprised how many of you seem to like the idea and hope I'll keep up to your expectations. I'll do my best! :)  
**

**Regards, Violet-san**


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